Lenovo IdeaPad U300e

The Lenovo IdeaPad U300e is a hybrid drive version of the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s. Other than the hybrid drive, the other specifications are identical to the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s, with a 13.3-inch 1366 x 766 pixel resolution display, an Intel Core i5-2467M processor, 4 GB of RAM, USB 3.0 and HDMI out. For more details on the Lenovo IdeaPad U300 series, please follow this link. This article will focus on the key difference between the U300e and the U300s. 

Instead of the 128 GB SSD you have on the U300s, in the U300e you have instead get a 32 GB SSD and a 500 GB hard drive. We have seen hybrid drives in the Acer Aspire S3 and the Samsung Series 5 ULTRA, but these Ultrabooks with 20 GB and 16 GB only use the SSD drive as a hibernation partition, to allow quick wake from sleep. The Lenovo IdeaPad U300e's larger 32 GB SSD is used to hold the operating system. This means quick wake from sleep, quicker booting and shutdown and quicker performance of the operating system in general. You can expect a small hit in battery life since the conventional 500 GB hard drive is not as power efficient as an SSD. The addition of a conventional drive also adds half a pound in weight to the Lenovo IdeaPad U300e as compared to the 300s.

 The use of a hybrid drive allows for a reduction in price, with the Lenovo IdeaPad U300e priced at Php49,950, which is Php6,000 less than the U300s. 

While I prefer a pure SSD models since this results in faster loading or programs and files, 256 GB SSD which is the largest SSD drive you are likely willing to pay for would be considered small by many users. The Lenovo IdeaPad U300e gives you 532 GB of storage. This gives you a second to choose the U300e. Still, for many the lower price and larger storage would make this a better choice.

The additional weight putting the Lenovo IdeaPad at almost 3.5 pounds makes it more of an ultraportable than a true Ultrabook. More of a competitor to the 13-inch MacBook Pro than the MacBook Air. As against the MacBook Pro it is a pound lighter and 12K.